Display shelf



April 1938. w. D. HuMPHEY 2;l15,168

DISPLAY SHELF Filed April 30, 1936 INVENTOR Mun/317i? Hum/ mar 1 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 26, 1938 DISPLAY SHELF Willard D. Humphrey, Bronxville, N. Y., assignor to Magazine Repeating Razor Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 30, 1936, Serial No. 77,086

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to shelves adapted for the display of goods for sale in which suction cups are employed to attach the shelf to a glass surface, such, for instance, as a window or the inside of a show case. I There is apt to be considerable waste space in the upper part of a show case and an object of my invention is to provide a shelf adapted to utilize such space. Thus, my improved shelf may be attached to the under face of the glass top of a show case so the goods may be displayed above the level of other goods set upon the bottom or floor of the case.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a display shelf comprising a pair of connected leaves disposed at an angle one to the other, each leaf being provided with suction cups at or near its outer edge. Preferably, the shelf is disposed in the form of a trough to receive the goods to be displayed, this trough being applied to the under side of the glass top of the case. It will be obvious, however, that the shelf may also be disposed at a corner of the case with the edge of one leaf attached to the top wall of the case and the edge of the other leaf to the front wall of the case.

Another object of my invention is to provide a two leaved shelf of-the type described above with a triangular end wall, so that the shelf may be applied to a vertical corner of a show case with said end wall forming the bottom of the shelf and the leaves forming the sides of the shelf.

A further object of my invention is to provide a two leaved shelf in which the leaves are hinged together to permit of varying the angle between them.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a two leaved shelf in which the suction cups are not fixed directly upon the leaves but are connected thereto by means of suspension elements, such, for instance, as chains, so that the shelf may be suspended at a desired level below the top of the show case.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the following description of a preferred embodiment and certain modifications thereof and thereafter the novelty and scope of the invention will be pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing;

Figure l is a fragmental view in vertical section through a show case showing a preferred form of the shelf applied to the under face of the glass top of the shelf, the shelf being indicated, also, in broken lines, in another position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the shelf with the suction cups removed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modification comprising a two leafed shelf with suction cups connected to the leaves by means of chains;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a shelf similar to that shown in Fig. 3, but with the leaves hinged together; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a shelf comprising a pair of side leaves and a bottom wall connecting the leaves with means for attaching the shelf to a vertical corner of a show case.

Referring to Figure 1, I show a show case comprising a frame H) supporting a vertical glass front H, a vertical glass side wall I2, and a horizontal glass top l3. My improved shelf is best shown in Fig. 2, and comprises a pair of leaves M and I5 joined along one edge and forming preferably an angle of 90 degrees one to the other. At the outer edge of each leaf and at opposite ends of such edge I provide lugs I6 formed with slots to receive suction cups ll. 'I'he form of the suction cups and the means of attaching the cups to the lugs is well known in the art.

In the preferred arrangement the shelf is applied to the under face of the glass top l3 of the show case, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, thus forming a trough in which goods may be held for display. Said goods are thus supported clear of other contents of the show case and will be conspicuously displayed because of their location close to the top of the show case. If desired, however, the shelf may be applied to the showcase in the manner indicated by broken lines in Fig. 1. In other words, the wall I4 is disposed horizontally and the suction cups connected thereto are applied to the inner face of the glass front II, while the wall I5 is disposed vertically and the suction cups connected thereto are applied to the under face of the glass top l3. The shelf is preferably formed of sheet metal and the lugs or ears l6 may be bent readily so as to parallel the walls to which the suction cups they carry are attached.

, In order to accommodate articles thatmay be too tall to be contained within the vertical height of the shelf, it may be desirable to drop the shelf to a lower level than that shown in full lines in Fig. 1. In such case, a shelf such as shown in Fig. 3 may be employed. This shelf comprises a pair of leaves 20 and 2| connected along one edge but unlike the shelfv shown in Fig. 2 the leaves 20 and 2|, are not provided with lugs 16. Instead, a chain 22 is connected to each corner of the free edges of the shelf and the free end of each chain is connected to a suction cup 23. These suction cups when applied to the under side of the glass top I3 will suspend the shelf well below the glass top.

It may be desirable in some cases to vary the angle between the two leaves of the shelf. It is, therefore, within the purview of my invention to hinge the leaves together. Such a shelf is shown in Fig. 4. The shelf is similar to the one shown in Fig. 3, comprising two leaves 20a and 21a which, however, are connected together by means of hinges 25. Obviously, the form of shelf shown in Figs. 1 and 2 could also be provided with a hinge joint connecting the two leaves.

In Fig. 5, I show a shelf which differs from that shown in Fig. 2, mainly, in the fact that there is an end wall connecting the two leaves. Thus, the shelf comprises leaves 21 and 28, re-

spectively, which are disposed at an angle to each other and are connected at one ,end to a triangular wall 29. The leaves are disposed in verticalposition and the end wall 29 forms the bottom of the shelf. Preferably, the leaves and the end wall as well, are provided with mirrored surfaces, so that goods supported on the walls 29 will be reflected in such mirrored surfaces. 'Projecting from the top and bottom of the forward edge of each leaf are lugs 30 provided with slots 3| to receive suction cups 32.

;In use this shelf is disposed in a vertical corner of the'show case with one of the leaves parallel to the glass front II and the other leaf parallel to a glass side l2 of the show case. Thus, the shelf forms an enclosure of quadrangular cross-section in which the goods on display may be seen from the side, as well as the front of the show case. The shelf may also be applied to the glass front alone so as to form an enclosure of triangular cross-section. In Fig. 5, the cups 32 are disposed in the same plane to permit of attaching the shelf to a window or the glass front of a show case. If the shelf is to be applied to a corner of the case the lugs 30'of one leaf must be bent'at right angles to those on the other leaf of the shelf.

While I have described several embodiments of my invention it will be understood that these are to be taken as illustrative and not limitative and that I reserve the right to make various changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of 'my invention as pointedv out in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A display shelf comprising a pair of leaves hingedtogether along one edge, and suction cups connected to each leaf adjacent the opposite edge thereof, said cups being adapted for. at

tachment to a support.

2. A display shelf comprising a pair of leaves connected together and disposed at an angle to each other, a pair of tension elements secured to the free edge of each leaf, and a suction cup secured to the free end of each of said elements.

3. A display shelf comprising a pair of leaves connected together and disposed at an angle to each other, tension elements secured to each leaf at points remote from the line of connection of the leaves, and a suction cup secured to the free end of each of said elements.

WILLARD D. HUMPHREY. 

